SCO organises composer workshop to groom young composers

Singapore, 14June 2017 (Wednesday) – Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) will be organising a two-day composer workshop in March 2018. SCO Composer Workshop aims to provide a stimulating environment for aspiring young composers to discover and develop their fullest composition potential.

Under the guidance of SCO Music Director Tsung Yeh and Composer-in-Residence Eric Watson, the workshop offers young composers with an exposure to a range of compositional approaches for Chinese instruments and provides an intensive practicum with the world-class orchestra. UK-born Eric Watson has lived in Singapore for over 20 years where he is active as composer, conductor, music technologist and pedagogue. His experience embraces opera, musical theatre, film and television and he has written scores in many diverse and different genres including electro-acoustic music, gamelan and Chinese orchestra.

SCO is calling out for young composers 25 years old and below to register for the workshop. Registration closes on 11 August 2017. Thereafter, applicants are required to submit a composition of not longer than 5 minutes, suitable for full or medium-size orchestra, and that adheres to the score format, instrumental list and range of SCO by 15 October 2017. Shortlisted applicants will be notified by 30 November 2017.

As part of the workshop, there will be a two-day session of Demonstration of Chinese Musical Instruments on 4 and 8 September 2017, 7pm to 10pm. During the session, workshop registrants will get to learn about what Chinese musical instruments can do and the limitations in their music range. This two-day session is also open for public observers and admission is free. Observers are highly recommended to attend both days of the demonstration session in order to obtain a full understanding of the Chinese musical instruments. Limited slots are available and interested observers can sign up at: http://peatix.com/event/269993.

On 11 and 12 March 2018, the workshop will commence with a symposium on the first day, followed by a score-reading session and discussion session on the second day.